Leamington drug addict jailed for ‘third strike’ offence

When a Leamington drug addict was passing a house and saw an open bedroom window, she climbed inside and stole property ranging from a computer to clothes.

But when Nadia Greger was seen and challenged by the owner, she dropped items which allowed the police to identify her.

And at Warwick Crown Court, Greger, 34, of Hastang Fields, Leamington, pleaded guilty to the burglary and being in breach of a suspended sentence for shoplifting.

Facing a three-year minimum sentence as a third strike burglar, she was jailed for 876 days, or just under two years and five months, after being given a 20 per cent discount for her plea.

Nick Devine, defending, said that in view of the fact that Greger was ‘a third-striker,’ although her last conviction for burglary had been in 2011, he was not asking for a pre-sentence report.

He conceded there was ‘some limited violence towards the owner’ during the burglary, but that had been in her attempt to escape.

And Recorder Christopher Bright QC observed: “Although it was technically violence, he tried to grab her and she pushed him away, and that was it.”

Explaining what led to the offence, Mr Devine said that early in the summer Greger had been remanded in custody over a robbery allegation which was subsequently dropped.

As a result, she was released from Peterborough prison ‘with no idea how she was going to get back to this area, what she was going to do when she got back or where she was going to live.’

“She found herself living with a friend who was heavily involved in the world of drugs. She’s a drug-user, and she found herself surrounded by people she would have done best to avoid, and she began taking drugs again.”

Jailing Greger and warning her of her future conduct, Recorder Bright told her: “You have a poor record for offences of dishonesty, and there are a number of burglaries.

“You need to realise that the courts have said that if you enter someone’s home, even on an impulse, and even through an open window or door, the courts regard the matter very seriously.”